Isolation and Rumination
by Ebon Soul
Summary: Gaara runs away from his comrades and hides in the desert. Depresssion sets in. I suck at summeries. Rated for thematic elements.
1. Chapter 1 running away

Chapter 1: Flee from friends

"Temari, Kankuro… I'm sorry." Gaara said before passing out again.

"What did he mean by that?" asked Kankuro.

"I don't know," replied Temari " but that naruto kid was talking about friendship and comrades and it looked like it was getting to him."

---------3 Days Later---------

"Do you think he is alright?" asked Temari for what must have been the tenth time that day. Since his apology three days ago Gaara had not woken up. They were now in the wind country, two days out of the hidden village of sand. They had not slept since the "end" of the chuunin exam, and it was getting to them. They had fled from multiple ninja and, since they were in the wind country, could now rest in relative peace.

"We can both sleep now, I'll set up traps to keep the animals awake." Offered Kankuro.

"Shouldn't we take turns on watch?" asked Temari.

"we are so tired it wouldn't do much good anyways." Said Kankuro as he went off to set the traps. He set up some tripwires, alarms and a kunai or two


	2. Chapter 2 Memories

((Heh, sorry to any of you who read this and wanted more… no reviews makes me think that no one cares… plus a lot of other stuff, but that's just excuses, so anywho… second chapter up now! Sorry it's so short))

-Chapter 2-

The air whistled in Gaara's ears, whipping his hair around and stinging in his eyes. He was oblivious to all this though, as his mind was far away.

'_To never hurt again… what would it feel like?'_ Gaara mused. **_"Don't do it kid, think of all the fun we could have! We could run rampant; destroying cities, massacring people… we could take over the world if you wanted to!"_** Shukaku plead, frantically. '**_You don't want to do this, kid. C'mon, don't you remember how fun it was? Don't you remember when you offed_** ((slang for killed))**_ those hidden rain ninjas? Don't you remember the rush? What about when you…'_** This was as far he got before Gaara drowned him out. '_Shut up, give me peace._' Was all that it took. Well, that and the hint of crazed rage. Shukaku knew that he was safe inside Gaara but the way Gaara had said it made Shukaka wonder just how safe he really was.

As the air whistled around Gaara He became strangely calm. '_I should have tried this years ago.'_ He took a deep breath, opened his eyes while looking upward, he saw a cliff. As he looked down he saw the rapidly approaching ground. '_I wonder if it will hurt?' _he thought.

((good thing im not mean, Or I would end the chapter right there))

-2 Years Later—

"**_You do know this wont work, right?" _**said Shukaku, more to himself then to Gaara. Shukaku knew that Gaara was beyond even recognizing hi voice. Gaara had long ago gone completely insane, his suicidal desires having taken him over completely. His daily routine consisted of entirely suicidal attempts. Shukaku had to give him credit, he thought up some intricate ways to kill himself. These attempts would always fail, most of the time due to the sheer fact that they were not enough to kill Gaara's enduring body (toughened even more by his constant attempts at self-harm), others from Gaara's mother's blessing (or curse, as Gaara would refer to it). This time Gaara was trying his speed against the sand's. He was trying to bring his sharpened rock in to pierce his body, with the sand intercepting it each time. **_C'mon, there's only one person faster than your sand. Not even your father could get past it._** Said Shukaku, immediately regretting those words. At the mention of Lee Gaara perked up. He set his rock down and began to walk in the direction that he had come, wandering the desert. That direction was south, towards Konoha.

-End Chapter-

((heh, I'll try to get the next update a little quicker then the last))


	3. Chapter 3 execution of the plan

((First off all, thank you for your reviews.

Secondly there will be no pairings that are a major part of the plot (maybe a slight shikamaru/temari one just because I am a sucker for that one, I might do a few others). I tend not to like romancing because it makes characters do stupid things. Plus it is near impossible to make it work and have your fic be anything other then an insult to literature.

Finally, since this takes place a little while after Gaara was supposed to rescue lee I suppose that I need to fill in the plot holes… uh…. It was… uh… Jiraiya! Yeah, Jiraiya saved Lee. I will explain the rest later))

Chapter 3

Gaara was set in his decision to go to Konoha and get killed by Lee. He was in no hurry (and he was making sure to avoid human contact as much as possible) so the journey took about 4 months (his little hiding place was on the far side of Hidden Sand village ((anyone know the Japanese for of that? Like hidden leaf is konoha. Yeah, help there would be appreciated)). When he got to konoha he spent some a few months thinking up a way to get Lee to kill him. At first he was set not to harm anyone, but after some time he knew that he had to endanger someone for his plan to work. He then spent a month stalking his 'victim' and planning out his idea to perfection.

8 Months from the time that the last chapter took place in

((don't you love my descriptive skills?))

Lee was walking home that evening rather pleased. He had gotten the day off from Gai because that day was the day that Naruto had come back from his training with Jiraiya. It was about 9 o'clock (his Gai-enforced curfew) when he entered his door. The first thing he did was throw off his jacket (he gained chuunin status the previous exam). He then went to undress and take a shower when he heard a scream next door. He flung his shirt back on and ran over next door. The sight he saw was eerily familiar, but from where he could not place.

The entire apartment was covered in sand, even the sand (a rather odd sight Lee thought to himself). He saw in the center a man with shaggy, shoulder-length red hair. The man was wearing a simple tan jumpsuit and had bear feet. Lee looked over to the wall and saw that his next-door neighbors were pinned against the wall with looks of increasing pain flashing across their faces. The man looked expressionlessly at Lee and said, "If you want them to live you have ten minutes to kill me or they will be crushed to death." Almost to emphasize his point, at that moment the littlest child of the family screamed and started to cry.

"I know not why you are doing this, but you will be defeated by my hard work!" shouted Lee. With that he dashed foreword and threw a punch at the person's mid-section, he stopped the feint-punch short and went into a spinning-heel kick. The kick was about five inches from the mysterious persons face when it met a barrier of sand. 'What?' thought Lee silently and then used the sand to shove off and send Lee flying towards the wall. He twisted in mid-air and shoved off against the wall, flying back at this attacker. He drew back his right arm and threw his hardest punch possible. The sand simply changed and flew up from the ground, hitting Lee in the stomach, sending him flying upwards. Lee hit the ceiling and broke through it. He went flying up 10 feet past the ceiling and then, on his way back down, put out both legs and landed gracefully on the left side of the roof.

"Nine minutes." Said the sand-person mysteriously. Lee frowned and disappeared from the roof. He reappeared at the door and charged towards Gaara, fist raised high. Before he even got to Gaara he went low and went into a sliding tackle. Again the sand blocked him, this time sending out a jet of sand, hitting Lee in the jaw. Lee went flying back and blasted out of the door. The hit was harder this time and Lee went flying al the way into the building across the street from him.

"What is this Lee?" came a voice from below. Lee looked down and saw Gai, obviously worried. Lee shouted back "Some person has taken my neighbors captive! I must save them!" Upon hearing the situation Gai jumped up to the apartment and saw the situation. He charged foreword only to be hit with a blow of sand. "Stay out of this; it is not your fight." Came from the person. Gai was a little confused until Lee came back up from the street. The person turned and said to him "Seven minutes left, soon their ribs will start to crack."

"Lee, obviously this person is here to fight you. Since he has gotten innocents involved I am allowing you to take off your weights." Said Gai imperiously. "But Gai, that goes against the rules, doesn't it?" asked Lee. Gai turned and explained, "These people have nothing to do with this fight. The only reason that they are trapped is because of you. It is your responsibility to save their lives and then apologize profusely to them for a year for putting them through this trouble." Lee suddenly understood and nodded to Gai. He then bent over to take off his leg weights. He un-strapped them and handed them to Gai. He then crouched into a stance almost like runners take before the start of a race and shot foreword. He threw a punch at Gaara's head and then 'disappeared'. He 're-appeared' right behind Gaara and then continued with his punch. He caught Gaara square in the back of the head, sending him flying. Gaara's sand caught Gaara right before he reached the door. By that time Lee had already gone to Gaara's side and threw another punch towards Gaara's head. This one connected as well, sending Gaara flying. Gaara knew that he couldn't live after a third blow to the head and closed his eyes, smiling and he awaited the final blow. Lee noticed this smile and decided to be extra careful this time. He went low and, when he was directly under Gaara, 'disappeared' and the 're-appeared' right above Gaara, with his foot raised to do a downwards heel-chop. Right as he was about to connect with Gaara He was blasted aside. At that same time Gaara felt a sharp sting in his neck and felt a rapid blood loss. 'I don't know how, but I am going to die from this. My jugular is punctured.'

End Chapter

((don't worry, Gaara isn't going to die. And if you didn't notice, Lee's 'disappearing is just him going really fast.

I should have another chapter out soon, so read and review please!))


	4. Naruto's Version

((Ok, remember when I said I wasn't going to be evil? Yeah, I lied. You don't get to find out what happens to Gaara for a few chapters. Hehe

Oh, can someone please tell me if half of the first chapter is missing. because thats what it looks like to me.

To Sabaku no Gaara: if you don't like it then don't read it. Considering the fact that you lack the skills to type in proper English I would probably consider your lack of reading to be a compliment.

Oh, to everyone else, I wont normally jump down your throats if you give me a bad review, he just pissed me off.))

Naruto's Version

Naruto had just gotten back from his training with Jiraiya so he was celebrating. He ran throughout Konoha, ignore the looks of disdain that came from other people. As he was hopping on buildings he saw his former teacher reading a book. "HEY KAKASHI-SENSEI!" he yelled out. Kakashi looked up and his mask creased in a way that Naruto had long ago learn to discern as a smile. "Naruto! Your back!" Kakashi called out. The two embraced and immediately Naruto began to pester Kakashi with questions. Kakashi held up his hands to stop the flow and said to Naruto, "Lets go see Sakura." Naruto nodded and they both took off.

When they reached Sakura Naruto saw that she had changed. She no longer wore her red outfit, but had replaced it with a more practical outfit ((you know what it looks like)). Behind her stood The Fith Hogake ((Godaime, isn't it?)). "Hey Sakura-chan! Hey Obaa-chan!" Sakura looked up and her face brightened immensely. Tsunade brightened but was immediately replaced with a look of annoyance, "Obaa-chan? Learn some respect!" she snapped. While her tone was harsh they both knew it was playful banter.

"Naruto! Hey!" Naruto and Sakura embraced, happy to see each other after three years. Sakura then turned and bowed to Tsunade. "Godaime-sensei, please allow me to take the day off from my studies to celebrate my friends return, I promise that I will make up for my studies later." At that Tsunade waved her hand and replied "Go and have fun Sakura-chan. And it is good to have you back Naruto."

Sakura grabbed Naruto by the hand and took off. "Lets go see our friends!" As they ran through Konoha they saw many people. Each time the told them to meet at the training grounds in an hour with lots of food. They saw Ino, Chouji, Kiba, Lee and finally…

"Hey, isn't that Temari, from Hidden Sand Village? And who is that next to her?" Asked Naruto, all of a sudden. Sakura turned to look and saw Temari walking hand-in-hand with Shikamaru.

"Hey, Shikamaru! Naruto's back!" She yelled out. Shikamaru looked up and waved. "Meet us in the training grounds in an hour, and bring food! We're having a party!"

One Hour Later

Everyone had gathered and the party was going full swing. Naruto was catching up on current affairs with everyone. Apparently while he was gone everyone had become at least chuunin, if not jounin. During the time that he had be gone, Konoha had undergone a radical change in preparation for the war that everyone knew would soon come. Neji and Lee, the only jounins in the group, had been drafted into ANBU. The Main House and Branch House and been temporarily abolished and the use of the Branch Houses seal had been strictly forbidden as to keep everyone at their best condition. Attending combat training at least two times a week was also required of all Konoha citizens. Those who could not attend were forced into work houses, making weapons of war. Konoha had effectively become the worlds second most militaristic Village, beaten only by Hidden Sound.

That was exactly why the party was interrupted mid-way by the police. Another law that had been set in place is that any intentional large gathering needed a permit. So everyone packed up and moved. They continued in the forest until they were told to disband or face jail time. Considering it was getting late people finally packed up to head home.

As Naruto was walking home, taking in the sights, he got distracted by a familiar smell. Ramen! He smiled wide and shot off to his favorite place in all of Konoha, the ramen shack. He ordered a shrimp ramen (even though he had eaten a lot at the party he always had room for ramen). While he was waiting he heard a loud noise coming from the apartment district. He looked over to the ramen guy to see if this was a normal occurrence, it wasn't. He hopped up on the nearest building to see a lot of people running towards to noise. Out of the crowd he picked out Shikamaru. He ran down to intercept him and, when he got to him, he asked what was going on.

"There is some kind of fight going on in the apartment district. I heard Lee's involved." Replied Shikamaru "I heard it was some sang guy…" He said and then stopped. His expression changed and then became very worried. "Oh crap, that must be what got Temari so worried. It's gotta' be Gaara!"

"Wait… Gaara… That sand nin! From the chuunin Exam!" Naruto exclaimed. "But I thought we were at peace with the sand?"

"We are, but Gaara's been missing since the exam." Said Shikamaru and, with that, took off towards the fight. Naruto followed and, when he got there, saw Lee going at Gaara, weights off. He saw Lee hit Gaara and knew that Gaara couldn't handle much more. When Lee went for the final kick Naruto blasted into action. He slammed into Lee while pulling out a shuriken. He threw the shuriken downwards towards Gaara's jugular vein.

Naruto knew that Lee would be fine so he concentrated on Gaara. Blood was spurting out of his neck at such a rapid rate that he would surely die of blood loss within 10 minutes. Naruto pulled some gauze out of his emergency pack that he had at his waist and wrapped it around Gaara's neck to staunch the blood flow.

"Someone get a Medical Nin! He yelled out and started off towards the hospital.

End Chapter

((uh… sorry for the late update, life got in the way. And I am going to at least one more chapter to keep you in suspense. Don't you hate me?

Uh… what else was I going to say…. Uh… oh yeah! Since this fiction will most likely not be combat related I get to make naruto just that powerful. If it turns out to be combat related then… uh… eh, sue me, so I'm not the best at planning out story plots.

Till next time!))


	5. Chapter 5: Sakura's Version

((heh, sorry about the long time between updates. Life got in the way.

Methinks I will do this chapter on Sakura and then finish up the evilness with a chapter with Temari. Yeah, probably that

I am conflicted with the plot… I have a great idea but I want you readers to decide. Because I will make the other idea into a fic if I don't put it in this one, I wont give anything out. Simply put, please review and tell me if you want the plot to be more about gaara or konoha.

Oh, I might have forgotten to mention this but whenever I use the name suffixes (-chan, -san etc…) I use it to make a point, like Naruto's calling Tsunade Obaa-chan. It shows that he can joke around with her and it's all good. All the times I leave it out it is implied))

--Chapter 5--

"Hey Sakura!" came a voice that was certainly reminiscent, if not a tad annoying. Sakura looked up and her smile was best described as 'ear to ear'. The rumors were true, Naruto was back. When she heard him address Tsuande and 'old lady' she almost flinched. Tsunade did not like comments about her age. However she loosened up when she heard Tsunade's joking reply.

Sakura ran foreword and caught Naruto in a flying-tackle/hug ((think a huge glomp)). After they both recovered Sakura turned and bowed to Tsunade. "Godaime-sensei, please allow me to take the day off from my studies to celebrate my friends return, I promise that I will make up for my studies later." Tsunade waved her hand, signifying her approval. Almost before he was done Sakura grabbed Naruto's hand and took off. "Lets go see our friends!" she said, 'and, we'll have a party she thought to herself.' She knew that it was illegal but she didn't care. As they ran throughout the town they saw their friends. Each time they did Sakura shouted out to get food and meet in half an hour at the training grounds.

"Food?" Asked Naruto.

"Yeah, we're having a…" at this she dropped her voice, "party." She replied.

Naruto may be dense but he knew that she was trying to keep this on the low-down. So he didn't ask questions. They sped through the town, finding their friends, Ino, Chouji, Kiba, Lee, Hinata, and finally…

Sakura turned her head as she felt Naruto poke her. "Isn't that that sand kunoichi? And who is that she's with?" he said pointing down a small road. Sakura smiled, there, walking hand-in-hand with Shikamaru was Temari. Their relationship had been the talk of the town a year or two back and was still going strong. It had started right after the failed attempt to bring Sasuke back. As many times as they could one would request a leave of absence to go visit the other's village. Usually the planned visitations happened once every other month or so, rotating between the two, but Temari would sometimes show up unexpectedly, one of the perks of having her brother, Kankuro, as Kazekage. It looked as though this was one of those times. When she was around Shikamaru was either at work or with Temari. The amount of time spent with Temari was odd considering that Shikamaru easily had the talent to be in the upper echelons of ANBU, even though he, surprisingly, wasn't. His time with Temari had eroded his lazy nature and he had become more hard-working (though his complaining could never be stopped). Why he wasn't a jounin was a mystery to everyone.

"Hey Shikamaru, Naruto's Back!" She yelled out. Shikamaru looked up and waved. "Get some food stuff and meet up in the training grounds in an hour!" she called out.

One Hour Later--

The party was just getting started, and Sakura was already ordering people around. "Put that there. That goes there. Naruto quite yer' yapping an make a speech." She was really in her element. She went around making sure everything went smoothly when ANBU showed up. They told the party-goers to disband. Everyone rumbled dissention towards this but they knew better then to disagree with ANBU. When the ANBU weren't looking Sakura made it known that they were to meet up in the forests a half-an-hour later.

"Hey Sakura, why can't we just have a party?" asked Naruto. Sakura explained that new laws forbade any large, intentional gatherings without a permit. She also explained that it was almost impossible to obtain said permit.

30 minutes later everyone gathered again at the forests and the party started again. Finally the ANBU showed up again and threatened arrests if they didn't disband once and for all. While Sakura thought this odd (usually one was arrested on the spot) she complied. Considering it was getting late (considering the new curfew that had just been emplaced) ((is emplaced spelled right?)), she told everyone to go home. She then started home herself.

While she was on her way home she heard an explosion over in the residential district. She turned started off towards the noise. She was delayed by crowds running opposite direction as her, when she finally spotted Naruto running towards the hospital, blood trailing behind him like water from an overflowing bucket. She jumped up to intercept him and saw that he was carrying the body of a red-haired boy around whose neck was a very bloody bandage. She yelled at Naruto, "What the hell was that!"

Naruto glanced at her and kept on running, "No time. I need to get him to the hospital or he will die." At this Sakura piped in, "Hold still, idiot. I know medical jutsu." At this Naruto slowed down. They both kept running, only trying to synchronize their steps. Sakura tore off the bandage and applied healing jutsu on the wound. This staunched the blood flow a little and the wound healed a small bit, but she knew that the boy had little chance of living.

When they got to Konoha hospital she yelled at the on duty staff, "Get me a gurney ((isn't that what those wheelie thingies are called?)) and take me to the EC (extensive care) unit!"

The staff knew better then to question Sakura and did what she asked immediately. She went to the room where the patient was and snapped at the medic-nins to prepare the seals for a blood transfusion.

"But Sakura-sama! You know that we aren't allowed to give blood to none Konoha nins." Said one of the medi-nins. At that Sakura cursed, for she knew that the nin was correct. Just when she thought her day couldn't get worse the door slammed open, no doubt by the force exerted by the flying body of a hospital guard-nin. Sakura turned and gasped at the sight that she beheld.

--End Chapter--

((yeah, I suck. Yet another cliff-hanger. This should be the last one, though… yeah, it should be. Next is Temari's version (though I think that I will start that around the time when Gaara attacks Lee… but maybe not… depends on how much plot development I want.

Man, don't I sound fancy, more likely it will be how lazy I am.

So yeah, reviews are welcomed, even if you don't like it (I swear wont be mean like I was to Sabaku no Gaara unless you really ask for it). I would say that I will update soon, but I think we all know that to be a lie.

Heh.))


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